My Maharajah's Palace-Mini Royal Fan

This is an excerpt from the post which 1st appeared on Day 88 Pt 4 of My Maharajah's Palace :

If you are building a Maharajah's Palace, there are a few iconic items which are almost inevitable. One of them has to be the tall feather fan.

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 33 of "Accessories Of Dress" by Katherine Morris Lester and Bess Viola Oerke:

The fan, like the sunshade, originated in tropical countries. Here it was in daily service as a protection against the sun, as a means of cooling the air, driving away bothers insects and, when necessary, fanning the fire into a flame. In the Far East the fan was extensively employed in the service of religion, but its use as a costume accessory also dates back to remote antiquity. Some authorities state that the fan was known in China three thousand years ago. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Hebrews, Chinese, Japanese, and the people of India used fans as far back as their records of history go.

Among Eastern potentates, the fan was a badge of rank. The dignity of these rulers required that their fans be carried by slaves or attendants. The ancient form of the fan is therefore pictured with a long handle, and resembles a standard. Figure 529 A wall painting at Thebes pictures twenty-three sons of Rameses the Great in a procession, each carrying a ceremonial fan of semicircular shape attached to a long staff. The office of fan bearer to an Egyptian king was one of high honor, one to which only princes and other sons of the highest nobility could aspire. Figure 529. These attendants served standing at the right and left of the monarch as he sat in state; they attended him when he rode forth and during ceremonies in the temple. When not serving in the capacity of the fan bearer, they waited upon the king as members of his staff or in some other service of distinction.

In india, a fan made of swan and peacock feathers is a symbol of status and so I decided I will have to make one too.

I found my swan and peacock feather and some decorative wild grass I picked from the park behind my house.

I used an old chopstick for the handle. First thing I did was to spray paint the wild grass "French Blue". I also added some glitter to the peacock feather which I had removed from a cheap Venetian mask I bought for a costume party.

A little side note: peacock feathers can be bought quite cheaply in Little India, 50-70 cents per stalk. Hunting a peacock for its feathers is illegal in India and the feathers can be sold only if shed from the birds, which they apparently do very regularly. Peacock feathers are considered auspicious and "protective" here.

This project was time consuming because feathers are very difficult to handle with sticky agent since they bunch up and stain very easily.) I used double sided tape, spray adhesive (big mistake!), and little bits of wood glue for the part around the handle.

As you can see from the 3rd picture on the left, it wasn't easy.

Each time I make a mistake with the glue, I just kept adding feathers (my poor feather duster is very bald at one spot). It was a frustrating exercise and often, I would throw it down and go to sleep only to come back to it again.

Just yesterday, I wanted to junk the fan and thought, finally, my 1st piece of work that I will trash. Well, I am obviously still gutless when it comes to "rubbish". So this is what I did with it.

I realise that the fan is not spreading properly because the back is floppy so I added a "fan" of 8 toothpicks (painted) to give the back feathers some support and a frame (see top pic 2). I then cut and shaped the edges to round it so that maybe my fan will look more "regal" . I also changed the decorative head of the handle by using a more suitable earring.

The final result is a 11 1/2" tall feather fan spanning 5 1/2" at its widest. Huge by 1:12 standard but a rather effective flywhisk (for me) and

My Maharajah's Palace-Bazaar-Mini Flower Stall

This post 1st appeared on Day 88 Pt 3 & Day 89 of My Maharajah's Palace:

After I did the post on the flowers from J.J, I decided that I liked the stall so much that I would keep it for a while. I thought I could display it as a centrepiece for my dining table until I eventually build something more permanent for it, if at all.

There were not enough leaves at the stall, so one of the 1st thing I did was to convert this banana leave tray (above, about 10 1/2" long and 1 1/2" wide) into a signboard for the stall. It was inspired by the header at Tallulah-Belle Originals.

Next, I made some sword ferns.

I think I am addicted to the impossible tasks of trying to make fake plastic plants look realistic. These were 1:96 (?) palm trees that came with a packet of plastic animals I bought a while ago. I did my usual spray paint thing and then use a black marker to "draw and smudge" out the veins. Hopefully, one day, I will master the technique but it is useful to record my attempts.

I also made some pruned hedges (pom pom topiaries) for the back of the stall:


For these hedges, I used materials I already owned for ages. The pots were used to store salt. Two of them were mine and the 3rd I stole from mum. Wonder if she found out yet.

As if there is not enough green at the stall, I decided to add one more for Tallulah:

Here's a hectic Tallulah wiping the sweat off her brow and holding a pot of geraniums made by Jayne.

For the structure, I used 2 candle holders and the dome is a coin box I found at Mustapha during one of my 4am sleepless jaunts (20/6).

I have also added different levels to the display of the flowers so that they don't look so flat. I also made one more basket for the leaves and the ground is laid with a bamboo placemat.

Except for the topiary "trees" and the stall frame, I have tried to use material that gives a sense of portability, hopefully to suggest that this is a stall at a bazaar and not a shop. Tallulah is to be able to "pack everything up" at the end of the day, put a chain round all the stools and empty baskets and go home.

This is how my not so temporary flower stall in a bazaar look at the moment.

Except for 2 pairs of dolls, all the "characters have been "modified" to distinguish them from each other. Eventually, I hope to work on their dresses as well so that no 2 are wearing exactly the same clothes.

In this setting (above pic) , we see a bit of a lull at the stall. Most of the customers save for 2 girls, have already finished their purchases at Tallulah's and are on their way. The rest are browsers or chattering. At one corner is our romantic, loving and somewhat clumsy couple, with a new handbag. Her green kerchief is sticking out of her bag.

At the other corner, we see Tallulah. I have displayed all the flowers (except the lotus) made by Jayne on the tray between the girls. Thanks to the lull, she is able to speak to Tulip SriViNa, possibly about how she's looking for a partner, since business is going too well and she can hardly cope.

But actually a customer, standing next to SriViNa is waiting to pay for a bouquet and her basket on her head is getting heavy. If she operates on battery, I would have made her tap her foot impatiently.

Diametrically opposite from SriViNa and standing far far away from her is Saffron Syvia. You guessed it, Tulip Srivina and Saffron Syvia are the Kashmiri Twins. Syvia is talking to one of the Delhi Triplets, possibly about how to make money from saffron.

The rest of the Delhi triplets and their eldest sister are leaving the flower stall, making their way towards the Emperor's Emporium, which is 1 day away.

Standing at the middle of the stall is Moran, the lead dancer of the Nautch Girls from the palace. As she turns around, she catches the lecherous looks of a man whose arm is wound tightly around his girl, giving her a false sense of security. Moran is used to attention like this as her beauty is renowned.

The couple next to Mr Roving Eye are fighting. The lady is upset and the man is trying to explain

why their basket is filled with nothing but toddy. You can see here one of the 2 "shabby" baskets I made.

Here's the other one, carried by another girl riding pillion on a 3rd bicycle.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Eva for her comment on my flower post where I posted the picture below.

Art, Artisan, Artistry- Huang Xin & The Human Hair

If you have not heard of Huang Xin, he is the artisan who built the miniature Tiananmen Square entirely out of his customers' hair.

Huang Xin is a hairdresser from China and in his spare time after work, he scooped up his customers' hair, dye it and then use it to make sculptures, toys and monuments.

It is reported that he only uses women hair because it is softer. He usually have to wait for months before he can collect enough hair to build something. He washes, dyes and then glues the hair into paper before he uses it to craft.

Huang's Tiananmen measures 2 ft 10 inches long, 1 ft wide and 2 ft high. It is made with 11 kg worth of hair and US$71 worth of dye.

Huang will make your portrait out of your own hair if you fancy. He thinks that portraits made with hair will last longer. What do you think?

And speaking of artisan, Treewizard Chris and I went shopping for my Dremel on Sunday. It was a significant moment, that "ka-ching" of the cash register when I made the purchase. For it marked the next milestone for me in miniature making. I am finally going to drill, saw and dremel..(wow!)..just like the other artisans.

By the way, I soldered for the 1st time on Sunday too, albeit with a little help from my dad but just a little. My lights in the tent are working again although my switch is not. I am still mighty pleased. It's just a matter of time...

My Maharajah's Palace Project-Mini Baskets

This is extracted from a post in My Maharajah's Palace entitled: Day 88 Pt 2 - Rosanna's Baskets

I followed RoSanNa's tutorial on how to make beach baskets and made 4 bags cum baskets for my girls at the Maharajah's Palace.

These were made within 24 hours of the last one I made for the lady who has no feet.

I used caps and lighter for moulds. And some hemp and twisted paper strings and these lovely green round hoops which are used for ethnic dresses for handles.

This one is made with the cloth that I also used for the interior of the tent and I added a chrysanthemum.

to hide a flaw. See this corner where the flower is? That's where I made the mistake of not cutting enough cloth.

Now this little one is made from ribbons from Delhi.

The colours actually match the clothes worn by the girl with no feet and her man because I made this for her.

The last 2 are made of hemp ribbons (left) and hemp cloth (right) and are aged to give it a shabby look. It's all the rage now.

They are made for hardier use too. These can be sold cheaply and quickly.

My Maharajah's Palace Project-Modifying Dolls

This post 1st appeared at My Maharajah's Palace, Day 88 Pt.1:

Good evening, everyone. Today I want to give a tutorial on "How To Save Your Dolls". This is my 1st tutorial and I am a little nervous. There are also a few false starts so please, do bear with me. I am also sorry I skipped Day 87C but I will get back to that soon .

SO, here goes nothing..

This morning, I made an important decision which entail cleaning and clearing my work space aka dining room. And of course, I had to accidentally knock down a pair of dolls which fell 3 stories from the shelf.

Now, some of you may know how important dolls are to my project for without them, my project is nothing. And these dolls are extremely fragile, especially around the neck. This is in fact not my 1st accident and I have a pair who were sadly decapitated. I cannot tell you who yet because you can still see them in some of my stories.

Anyway, this pair is similar to the pair in the 1st picture,. A man and his lady, waltzing in front of a tacky gate. with grass and all and of course, the dreaded wooden base with the same brass tag.

Luckily for me, their heads didn't fall off. And even luckier, the awful gate, the wooden base and fake grass patch broke into pieces.

The only damage as you can see was that my girl has lost her feet. Thanks to the missing grass patch and feet, this pair of dolls are now shorter than the other 69 dolls I have.

Now if the same thing happens to you, the 1st thing you must do is to weave a basket.

Would you believe I forgot how to? Even though I have already made 9 or is it 11? So off I went to Casey's minis who has a tutorial or more on almost every conceivable mini (except if I may say so, How To Save A Doll). I stayed too long, thanks to Tessie PLUS Casey had like 13 different tutorials ranging from "very easy" to "rocket scientist." I decided that at my level, I should pick the "Not So Easy Baskets".
I don't have all the materials she said we will need but I figured I could use whatever I have and add the 14th tutorial to her "Complete Blog of..."

And so, instead of woodsie for the base, I use the cap of my contact lens box. I also replaced the poster board with a glossy advertisement card I tore up in the morning when I was cleaning up and cotton strings instead of waxed linen.

3 hours later, this was the result:

Now, this is unlikely to happen to you but as far as I am concerned, these Not So Easy Baskets might as well belong to the rocket scientist.

I gave up and thought, at this rate, I might as well knit one. And so 15 minutes later, here is my 2nd attempt:


I can hear cooing already..yes, isn't she perfect? Well, she would be if I really knitted it. Not so. This is in fact a "toothpaste cap" basket. Find a suitably shaped cap, 1/2 way decent glue and cotton food strings and just glue the strings onto the cap. Don't forget the base. Check my Day 68 for how. You need not worry about the inside because this is a basket and baskets are meant to carry things and this one must carry many.

Now if you like leaves like me, that's the 1st item that must go into the basket.

These were in fact plastic leaves I used for my Queen Anne. I sprayed some "Moss Green" paint on it to lend some realism because who can stand plastic. For maximum results, use paint meant for dried flowers.

Then if you have, like me, bought a whole load of junk off ebay like this:

don't junk them, even though you really should. Instead, start stuffing as many as you can into the basket, like this:
After that, glue the completed food basket onto the dolls and Voila!

Now, that still does not solve the other "short"coming. Here's THE CRITICAL STEP: Place them on a bench as precariously as you can, as if the girl is about to fall off, like this:

And finally, put the whole piece de resistance into a crowded scene that you are planning, like ..er..maybe a thriving flower shop?:

And there we have it, a few simple steps to saving your precious dolls. And not only that, you also have a story to explain the awkward way the man is holding his lady because you do not want your friends wondering why your dolls are dancing around their food, do you, even if it is Discount Tuesday?

Here's the story: It is a cold and rainy Tuesday and their usual groceries day . As part of their rounds, a stop at the florist is a must for the lady of the house. They are a little late because of the rain but that did not stop the crowd, already gathering at the stall. Thanks to their height or lack of, they have to stand on a bench just to see what's still available. The lady, anxious to catch a glimpse of her favourite flower shop, leans over a little too much and is about to fall when her man grabs her.

Now if your doll should unfortunately fall because of THE CRITICAL STEP as mentioned above, watch this blog for I most probably will have a tutorial on that as well.

I hope this tutorial has helped you and thank you, for reading this far.

Oh, I forgot, there is still the remnants of the 1st basket case. If you are a dud like me, then I am afraid you will have to junk that. BUT KEEP THE CAP. You never know, it may save a doll someday.